How General Mills is Getting It Right

Every once in a while, something just blows you away. That happened today, when I read the General Mills blog. Not only because the information that they shared was so jaw-dropping, but also because of the candor with which they shared it, the complete transparency with which they wrote, and the dedication they showed to fixing the problem they’d highlighted.

It gave me hope that together, we can fix our broken food system.

Because while some may argue that we need biotechnology in order to produce more food to feed our growing global population (an argument frequently postured by the biotech and agricultural chemical industry who stands to financially benefit from the licensing, trait and technology fees they earn off of foods that have been genetically engineered to contain their patented technologies), others, like General Mills, are focusing on the fact that we appear to already have a viable solution and that our problem may in part be solved by focusing on food waste and its reduction and redistribution.

For the last several months, I have been on an educational journey to understand the impact of food waste, and I continue to work within General Mills and with the food industry to reduce the amount of food discarded in landfills.

The impact of food waste is staggering, particularly when you consider:

Each year 70 to 80 billion pounds of food is thrown away in the U.S. – equating to almost 250 pounds per person.

20 to 30 percent of all food grown, processed and transported is never consumed.

Only a very small portion of food waste (approximately 2.5 percent) is recycled – primarily as compost.

Americans now throw away more food than any other material disposed of in landfills and incinerators, according to Jean Schwab, who leads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Food Recovery Initiative. And that’s one reason why the EPA has identified food waste as an agency priority.

With 1 in 4 American children now suffering from “food insecurity” as agricultural commodity producers continue to ship their products overseas, the AllergyKids Foundation is extremely grateful for the work of Bob and his General Mills team and are inspired that together, we can create the changes we want to see in the health of our families, our food system and our country.

To read the blog entry at General Mills in its entirety, please click here http://www.blog.generalmills.com/2011/11/the-impact-of-food-waste/